Milton residents to vote on new fire station

MILTON — Fire Chief Nick Marique is hopeful that when voters go to the polls in March they will approve funding to build a new fire station, which will cost up to $2.69 million.

Last year, voters approved $30,000 for a building design on the site of the old Moose Hall off Route 125. The parcel of land was donated to the town by Herbert Downs, Jr., with the provision that a fire station must be built there within seven years, and that clock started ticking over two years ago.

With this in mind, a building committee was established, and members included, in addition to Marique and Assistant Fire Chief Devon Pageau, Selectmen Tom Gray and Bob Bridges, former Budget Committee Chair Bob Naeger, resident Dan Bisson (who is an architect), former Fire Chief Andy Lucier, resident Dave Levin, Conservation Committee member Steve Panish, and former Selectman Charlie Karcher (who works with Norway Plains).

The committee, last summer, put out a request for qualifications (RFQ) to architects and construction managers, and, said Marique, they had nine responses from interested teams. Eckman Construction of Bedford, along with Goudreau Architects, were chosen, and they have produced a site plan, floor plan and a final rendering with a maximum guaranteed cost of $2.69 million.

This first came in, said Marique, with an estimated price tag of $2.87 million, but the building committee was able to trim $220,000 off the price by removing the rear parking and the building's rear doors, and keeping part of the rear portion as a shell, to be completed at a later date.

If voters approve the forthcoming article on the March warrant, the project will be bonded for 20 years at around 3 percent, according to Marique, and it will add about 63 cents to the tax rate — this translates to around $94 or $95 per year of additional taxes for the average Milton home valued at $150,000.

The committee plans to hold public informational meetings later in January, on dates yet to be announced, and there will be more discussion at the town's deliberative session on Feb. 9.

Meanwhile, the public can visit www.miltonfirestation.com and view plans, as well as read the rationale for leaving the existing fire station.

“The current Milton Fire Station is plagued with many issues that affect our ability to respond to emergencies in our community,” the website says, and goes on to explain in more detail, a number of problems, including ambulance access, water and rusting, scattered storage, undersized apparatus and exhaust fumes, and a lack of administration space.

Should voters approve funding for the new fire station, the design will be worked out in greater detail, and subcontracting work will go out to bid.

“I would expect construction to start in August or September,” said Marique, suggesting a completion date of around June 2014. If this comes to pass, it is possible that the old fire station will be put on the market, and money from any sale would go to the town's general fund.

With much more room in the proposed new building, Milton's ladder truck, currently housed in Milton Mills, will be brought down to Milton, Marique said. In addition, the new station would comfortably accommodate two engines, two ambulances, the forestry truck, the rescue truck, the OHRV trailer and the boat trailer. The 11,780-square foot, single story building will incorporate showers, a training room that can hold 40 people (Milton has two full time and 39 volunteer personnel), a decontamination room, lockers for equipment and tools, an air bottle room, and small offices for fire prevention and the chief, and an office to be shared by other officers.

Future plans (well down the road) for the incomplete shell portion of the station envisage bunk rooms for overnight ambulance coverage, a kitchen and locker rooms.

“We are looking forward to better maintenance of our equipment, and to be able to wash the salt off our vehicles when it is below 40 degrees,” said Capt. Robin Weeks. The run-off from vehicle-washing inside the new station will be caught in a tank below, and properly removed, said Marique.

It is intended that the new station will be wood-framed with steel supports, and have cement board siding.

Selectman Bridges, noting that he sat in on all the meetings, said, “I think the fire station is really needed, instead of being a nicety, and there are no bells and whistles. Right now, new fire trucks cost us more because they have to be custom made to fit in the old station.”

Bridges added, “The cost of building is only going to go up. Right now the cost and the bonding is as low as it will ever be ... and we are not just building for my age group, we are building for 50 years down the road.”

Bridges agreed that, if voters approve the forthcoming article, it would add around $95 to the average tax bill in 2014, and this amount would go down annually thereafter.